He put his arm round her little waist, and would have
drawn her down upon his knees, but she resisted.
"I don't see what difference that can make in you all at once, Isy! We've
known each other so long that there can be no misunderstanding of any sort
between us. You have always behaved like the good and modest girl you are;
and I'm sure you have been most attentive to me all the time I have been in
your aunt's house."
He spoke in a tone of superior approval.
"It was my bare duty, and ye hae aye been kinder to me than I could hae had
ony richt to expec'. But it's nearhan' ower noo!" she concluded with a sigh
that indicated approaching tears, as she yielded a little to the increased
pressure of his arm.
"What makes you say that?" he returned, giving her a warm kiss, plainly
neither unwelcome nor the first.
"Dinna ye think it would be better to drop that kin' o' thing the noo,
sir?" she said, and would have stood erect, but he held her fast.
"Why now, more than any time--I don't know for how long? Where does a
difference come in? What puts the notion in your pretty little head?"
"It maun come some day, and the langer the harder it'll be!"
"But tell me what has set you thinking about it all at once?"
She burst into tears.
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